Mortar gauge



Dec. 25,1923. 4 1,478,776

- J. 'WALKER MORTAR GAUGE Filed July 5, 1922 Patented Dec. 25, 1923.

mm :srnras lA'ZdJ'Zt PATENT ome,

JOHN "VTALKER, QF HONOL ULU, TERRITORY OF HAUAII.

IVEORTAR GAUGE.

Toralt whommay concern lie it elrnown that I,. J5oHN WVALKER, 'a citizen;Of the -United States, residing at Honolulu, 'lTerritory of Hawaii,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mortar Gauges; andLclo hereby declare theytollowingto 138:3. iii-ill, clear, and, exactdescription of therinvention, such 218..1Vi11-611'. able others skilledin theaart to whichit=appertains to anakaand use the same.

The inventionrelatesi to IHGHlSk for i applying-mortar; in. a layerofxuniform width and depth to the successive coursesof a wall built ofebricka tile. or; the, like,;=and= is more particularlyadaptedto;theuapplication: of the mortartotheedges of hollow tiles soasitonot-only apply a uni-formquantity of mortar necessary tomaketheijoinh-but also to avoid the waste'ofmortar'as when thelatterisapplied by the ordinary trowelrto therelatively narrowirsurfacesof;thetile: edges. 1 To this end the invention comprises :atrough-likereceptacle, preferablyNeshaped:in cross .sec tion, having an openuslotin its bottom flanked on either sidebypendant flangesor rims whichdefine the idepth or thickness of the mortar layer to constitutethe'joint, and a spreading .tool, preferably lll the form of ai'modifiedi trowel;havingedges which engage the inner walls of thentroughand an intermediate edgewhich overlies ther slot at the bOlltOIlllbf thetrouglrahd i. serves to stri-ke?the mortar alongthe top edge of theslot,-1 so that, wlientlie" trough-like element islif ted, alayer of.mortar of: uniform width and depth/is left along the edgelof the tile2111Cl1110116. of the. zmor tariisr wasted, the; surplus mortar within'the: troughbeing forced byivthespreading tool onto ashelf or partitioirlocated in; thetrou'gh-at-one endof the slot.

The invention is illustrated in the accompan'yingbdrawings :imwhich-Fig. lmis; a perspective view of the apparatus adjusted for theapplication of a course of mortar to one edge of a hollow tile wall.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the trough or receptacle.

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section on line 33 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a transverse section on line H of Fig. 2 looking in thedirection of the arrows.

1322. Serial- No. 572,836.

. Fig. v5 is a similarsectionon line 55 of Fig. 2. i

,Fig. 6 is.a,plan viewot the trowel for use in connection with ,thetrough.

vReferring to the drawings 1 andQ indicate the 1 converging sides. otalong trough-like receptacle having end closures 3 andut, thecross-section of the trough being substantially-.V shaped i d the sides1' and: 2 being extendedto form pendant rimsxor flanges 7 and 8,.spacedapart to form-a slot likeppenizg 5. running longitudinally of thebottom of the trough, said flanges constituting -a gauge, both as towidth .and' thickness, for the layer of mortar to; be applied-to thevtop surface of a course of bricks on tiles. Preferably the openingformed between the rims 7 and 8, of which the slot-5 intheebottom of the1 trough-like member eonstitutes the entrance, is flared. outwardly; toa slight degree incrder to readily. tree ithe strip of mortar whichhas-been forced into thespace when the trough-like distributor israised,- as will be. more particularly indicated (hereinafter. I Securedto lillQzQLlzlBSlClG of oneof saidmembers, and preferably near Y oneendof the troughis a pendant lug 9&which serves as a guide, toaligm the,trough-with the. course of the brick or tile-,wall. As 'itdsnecessary tosupply {a little-moremortar than gis re quired tor a slngleoperationiofthe gauge, lnea-nsvis providedrfor'taking ,care,;of the surplusmortar-sin the formaoif; a shelfor,

partition 6 at oneend of the trough in the plane .of. the slot 5, :uponwhich thesurplus aortaris forced, by 'the operation-of the spreadingtool-or trowel.

Any suitable means which-will cooperate with the sidewalls I of: thetrough and force the body of mortar,deposited longitudinally thereof, todistributethe inortaninthe space .(lefined by the bottom slot. 5; andthe pendant flanges 7 and-:8 and fstifike. i on cutoff the mortar in theplane of the slot 5, so as to leave a strip of mortar of the same lengthas the slot 5 and of a depth equal to that of the flanges 7 and 8, maybe employed, but the preferred implement to eiiectthis operation andresult is an ordinary masons trowel, such as illustrated in Fig. 6,having the forward end thereof out off, as at 12, substantially normalto the longitudinal axis of the trowel andthe lower corners bevelled orchamfered to form edges 13, of substantially the same length as thewidth of slot 5, so that when the trowel is'placed in the trough, in theposition indicated in Fig. 6, the edge 11 engages one wall of thetrough, the bottom edge 12 engages the opposite wall .of the trough andthe lower edge 13 overlies and is parallel with the slot 5.

In applying the apparatus to its intended use, the trough-like elementis mounted on the course of brick or tile to receive the mortar andadjusted by the guide lug 9 at one end and the hand of the operator atthe other until the slot 5 lies immediately above the surface of thetile or brick to receive the mortar. A quantity of mortar is thendeposited in the trough and the trowel 10 positioned against the endwall 3 and drawn longitudinally of the trough while maintaining itsposition substantially normal to the axis of the latter, thereby forcingthe body of mortar along the trough and causing the same to be forcedthrough the slot and into the space defined by the pendant flanges 7 and8 until said space is entirely filled for a distance qual to the lengthof slot 5. The corner 13 of the trowel during'this movement strikes orremoves all of the mortar laying above the plane of the slot and forcesthe surplus mortar onto the shelf or partition 6 at the opposite end ofthe trough, the operation leaving a layer of mortar of uniform width andthickness in proper position on the upper surface of the brick or tilecourse, as indicated in Fig. 7. It will be particularly noted that noneof the mortar is wasted in the spreading operation, but that asubstantially uniform layer or course of mortar is spread at eachoperation of the device. After each spreading operation th trough ilifted vertically, or tilted on one end, and moved to the neXt positionwhere the operation is repeated until the necessary quantity of mortarhas been spread to receive the next course of brick or tile.

As indicated, the device is applied to spreading and gauging the mortaralong the relatively narrow top edges or faces of hollow tiles and thedevice is of particularadvantage in this relation because it accuratelygauges the thickness of the mortar course or layer without permittingany of the mortar to project over the edge or to fall either inside oroutside of the tile where it would be lost. Obviously, however, thedevice is not limited to this particular use, as it is equally effectivein applying the mortar course to solid tiles, bricks or masonryelements, and especially in operations which require only a marginalstrip or layer of mortar to be laid around the edges of the wallelements. It will also be apparent that by properly proportioning thesize of the trough and the width of the slot the device may be adaptedto apply a layer of mortar of any desired width and by similarlyregulating the depth of the flanges 7 and 8 the thickness of the mortarlayer will be accurately gauged.

What I claim is:

1. A mortar gauging and spreading device comprising a- V-shaped [troughhaving a longitudinal slot in the bottom thereof and pendant rimsbounding said slot, and a spreading tool slidable in said trough andhaving an edge to strike the mortar parallel with the top of said slot.

2. A mortar gauging and spreading device domprising a V-shaped ltroughhaving a longitudinal slot in the bottom thereof and pendant rim on eachside of said slot, and a spreading tool slidable in said trough havingedges engaging the sides thereof and an intermediate edge overlying andparallel with the plane of said slot adapted to strike the mortar alongthe top of said slot.

3. A mortar gauging and spreading device comprising a V-shaped troughhaving a longitudinal slot in the bottom thereof a shelf at one end inthe plane of said slot and pendant rims oneach side of said slot, and aspreading tool slidable in said trough having edges engaging the sidesthereof and an intermediate edge overlying and parallel with the planeof said slot adapted to strike the mortar along the top of said slot.

4. A mortar gauging and spreading device comprising a V-shaped troughhaving a longitudinal slot in the bottom thereof and

